LANL has new boss

US Department of Energy officials have chosen a consortium to take over management of Los Alamos National Laboratory in June. The group, called Los Alamos National Security LLC, consists of the University of California, Bechtel, BWX Technologies, and Washington Group International. Michael Anastasio, currently the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will be the lab’s new director.

For the past 60 years UC has run the lab, but the management contract was put out for bid last year (see Physics Today, March 2005, page 26 , and June 2005, page 29 ). Bechtel will take over the lab’s day-to-day management, and UC will run the science programs. The seven-year contract is worth up to $548 million. All the employees will be moved out of the UC retirement-benefit plan into a private plan. Many observers believed that a joint bid by defense contractor Lockheed Martin and the University of Texas would win the contract, says Douglas Roberts, a former lab employee. Lockheed Martin officials are considering whether to protest the contract award.